


As The Dark Light Falls

by nier_s (orphan_account)



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Arrogance, Betrayal, Character Death, Depression, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mental Health Issues, No Romance, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Survivor Guilt, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-18 15:51:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17583818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/nier_s
Summary: Sitting on the edge of a cliff, Eri kicked her legs out, gazing into the clouds. They were different today, she realized. Today, they were gray and... ominous? Storm clouds, she supposed, just coming out of the horizon. It quite looked like Kiri would be hit with them by nightfall.---The Third Shinobi War ended prematurely, starting the years of unsettled armistice, the Watchful Peace.Barely ten years after its end, the Fourth Shinobi War is on the horizon.Kumo has begun militarizing, starting by striking an alliance with Iwa.Elsewhere, Amegakure has been steadily rising in strength, amassing handfulls of S-rank nuke-nin.Suna's unreliable relations with the Wind Daimyo have impoverished the hidden village.Konoha's kyuubi attack has destroyed years of infrastructure and balance, skewing the village into a military dictatorship more so than ever.Kiri itself is tipping precariously along a knife's edge from the years under the Sandaime Mizukage's bloody dictatorship.And thus, the Elemental Nations go to war, once again.UP FOR ADOPTION





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An AU in which Kiri treatied with Uzo. Uzumaki Miho married into the Houzuki Clan as the clan head's second wife (his first died in childbirth) and gave birth to Houzuki Eri, our main character, who became jinchuuriki of the three-tails. 
> 
> This is an AU, but our treaty didn't happen in time to save Rin and Obito. Obito is still Tobi. Rin is still dead. Kakashi is still suffering from PTSD. 
> 
> The kyuubi attack happened, because Tobi still exists. Minato is still dead, as is Kushina. The only difference is that Jiraiya actually stayed in-village. 
> 
> The Uchiha massacre won't happen because the Fourth Shinobi War is breaking out and war is no time to be planning a coup d'etat. And Danzo, because of the war, doesn't butt heads with Sarutobi as much. So I guess he's kind of a good guy? Exc. a really shitty good guy. 
> 
> So, yeah.

_Snap._

Left arm.

 

_Crack._

Collarbone.

 

Pain dulled when it got old. She was used to it.

 

_Slam._

Her opponent, ANBU Tiger if she remembered correctly, slammed his shin into her stomach, catapulting her towards the closest wall.

 

 _Impact_.

 

Plaster rained around her, white specks of a bad paint job burying in her hair. Not that anyone would be able to see them, anyways; Houzuki hair came white as anything was. Groaning, Eri peeled herself off the dented wall, collapsing in a heap of broken bones, blood, sweat, and plaster.

 

Karatachi-sensei stared impassively at her from alcove, tucked above the Hokage Tower’s private training ground. A sharp flick of his wrist told her he wanted the spar to continue. She cursed quietly to herself. Usually, by this time, Karatachi-sensei would’ve enforced a break period. It seemed like he wouldn’t be as nice today. Well, it wasn’t like she could disobey her teacher, was it? Up, it was.

 

She crawled up on hesitant legs, muscles shaking from overuse. _Concentrate._

 

Settling into the Houzuki stance, crouched low, left leg perpendicular to the body, right leg pointed sideways of front, two hands pincered like scorpion talons, Eri _moved_.

 

_Direct chakra towards the lower body for speed. ANBU’s moving towards the arm, direct chakra towards the arm to block. You’re sliding across the floor, direct chakra to the feet, weigh them down, touch your hands to the floor, weight the hands. ANBU’s going on the offensive, evade._

 

The ANBU brought his right leg up in a roundhouse kick, aiming a knockout hit towards her ribs. With a burst of chakra-enhanced speed, she leapt up, barely managing to force a catapult before her opponent made use of his momentum to spin a one-eighty, utilizing the boost in an attempt to pound her into the ground before she landed. Which, in retrospect, was one of the downfalls of flipping through the air; gravity oftentimes acted slower than the opponent.

 

Thinking quickly, Eri twisted in the air, catching the fist before it slammed into her ribs, and swung her body up, right leg smashing into the ANBU’s face.

 

_Shit. She hadn’t enhanced it with enough chakra. Best case, her ankle was sprained. Worst case, broken._

The ANBU leapt back, forearms rising in a defensive posture, right eye leaking out a small rivulet of blood. Eri smirked to herself. _At least she’d hurt him._

 

Concentrating a burst of chakra to her legs, she went on the offensive, attacking her opponent in a flurry of kicks, punches, and jabs.

 

_Chakra to the knuckles, harden it. He’s going for your ankle, sidestep, don’t overstep._

 

“Enough.”

 

Eri flipped in mid-air, landing in a back-spring. The ANBU retracted his fist, the glow of blue-white chakra dimming in his hands.

 

In the small balcony where only Karatachi-sensei had been standing just a while ago, the Sandaime stood with an entourage of ANBU guards.

 

“Hai. Sandaime-sama.” Turning to face her opponent, Eri gave a small Seal of Reconciliation. ANBU Tiger gave her a grunt and shunshin’ed away, the only telltale that he’d been her sparring partner for the last few hours a small breeze that drifted in the wake of his speed.  

 

Eri waited patiently for her next orders, although it seemed that the Sandaime wouldn’t be speaking with her. Karatachi-sensei was kneeling on the ground in front of him, taking note of orders Eri wasn’t able to hear. Clamping down on the desire to strain chakra towards her ears, Eri shuffled around, kicking at the dirt ground. Her ankle gave a dull twinge of protest, probably broken.

 

In the next moment, Karatachi-sensei dropped gracefully from the balcony and made a slight motion for Eri to join him, already starting to head out of the private practice grounds. She hesitated, glancing up at the balcony. The Sandaime was still there, conversing quietly with ANBU Tiger, probably asking about her taijutsu improvements. Keeping her head low, she scampered over to Karatachi-sensei’s side.

 

Eri knew that she was a prodigy; there wasn’t really any way to hide it. What five-year-old could train on par with ANBU? ANBU who had, of course, lowered their capability to high-chuunin, low tokujo status, but ANBU nevertheless? She was yet only four, but she was already capable of her two-tails transformation with Isobu-chama. She’d tried to go for three, once, but she’d ended up in the Mizukage Tower’s private medical facility room, loaded up on painkillers from third-degree burns.

 

She knew her own story. Daughter of Uzushio’s Uzumaki-hime and Kiri’s Houzuki Heir, forcefully adopted at birth by the Mizukage who had sealed the sanbi into her. From birth, she’d been put through torturous training, the likes of which she knew even Kirigakure’s noble clans wouldn’t even be able to provide for their heirs. At four, when all of Kirigakure’s children would be forcibly entered into the Shinobi Academy, she was given a free pass; the Sandaime had deemed her too advanced to suffer through the Academy and had drawn up a training regimen for her himself, complete with monthly check-ups.

 

But it still wasn’t enough.

 

Karatachi-sensei seemed to sense her disquiet. He glanced at her and ruffled her hair, chuckling lightly.

 

“Lay off yourself, would you? Your progression this year has been exponential—it’s quite near destroyed the drawn graph of your predicted improvement.”

 

Eri felt her face warm, a budding feeling of earthy satisfaction filling her gut. Karatachi-sensei had always been nice with his words.

 

“Your speed has improved, as have your action-reaction patterns. Your largest problem is poor control over your chakra and limbs. During live battle, chakra usage should come as instinct. There is too much unnecessary thinking in your taijutsu. You need to train in instinctual chakra usage while using your brain to notice patterns in the opponent’s offense.”

 

“Hai, Karatachi-sensei.”

 

“Also, in the last few seconds of the fight, I could tell that you overshot yourself, didn’t you?”

 

Eri winced. So he’d noticed. She’d been too concentrated on keeping the offensive and had tried to take her ANBU opponent out with a well-aimed roundhouse. Except he’d evaded and she’d lost her balance.

 

Karatachi nodded. “Just as I thought. As a shinobi, you should never be overly greedy for a win. Small increments, Eri. Shinobi may not be daoists, but we do utilize chakra energy. You need to balance yourself. In battle, that one mistake could cost you your life.”

 

Master and apprentice glanced slightly at each other, stopping right before the private hospital in the Mizukage tower. Yagura smiled softly at Eri, bending down to ruffle her hair. “Now, get yourself healed before doing anything else. The Mizukage had some orders for you he wanted me to pass on. Come find me when you’re finished.”

 

“Hai, Karatachi-sensei.”

 

He watched as the small five-year-old Houzuki scampered into the medic room. Watched, as her left arm dangled by her side, broken.

 

The smile he’d let overcome his face fell into a deep frown. With a sigh, he peeled himself off the wall and stalked towards his office.

 

Sometimes, Yagura hated the Mizukage. As a shinobi, there was a certain amount of trust placed within the administration in that the actions taken by the mass throughout war and peace were justified. But with the current administration, with the birth of the Bloody Mist, Yagura couldn’t help but feel that Kiri’s trust had been given all to readily to a man who wasn’t worthy of it in the least.

 

The Sandaime had been in power for over thirty years and had lived through three Shinobi World Wars. His policies had made Kiri strong, stronger than ever before, but at what cost?

 

No other shinobi nation was bloodier than the Mist. Iwa had convened death tournaments over the years, yes, but not on the level and scale of Kiri’s.

 

In a purely militaristic viewpoint, the Sandaime Mizukage was perhaps the greatest Kage to have ever come out of the Elemental Nations. Over the past twenty years, Kiri had gained more than several hundred thousand genin, of which more than fifty percent graduated to be chuunin, of which more than thirty percent became jounin. Out of all the hidden villages, with the exception of Kumo, in terms of troops, Kiri was perhaps the most well-prepared for war.

 

But the cost had also been exponentially high. It was said that the leader of a people reflected the people. And it was true. Yagura could feel it. With the rise of the Sandaime Mizukage, with the birth of the Bloody Mist, with the creation of the Bloody Pagoda, it seemed as if Kirigakure had lost all humanity, as if everywhere he looked, everywhere he turned, all he could see were red-eyed monsters. Rarely any civilian families settled within Kiri these days, having heard that all civilian children born and raised within the village were required to enter the shinobi academy and subsequently fight to the death to graduate as a genin.

 

He’d been in the room when the Sandaime had first proposed the idea.

Originally, the Sandaime had intended for there to be twenty academy classes per grade level and for each class to fight to the death to earn their mark as genin. But with the political pressure of the various noble clans, he’d caved and split the academy classes between students with shinobi families and civilian families, of which only the civilian-born children were required to fight to the death.

 

Yagura could still remember the day the new policy had been announced. That very night, hundreds of civilian families had tried to escape through the iron gates of Kiri, only to lose their lives on the supposition of treason.

 

In his opinion, the one who had betrayed Kiri hadn’t been those civilians. The one who had betrayed Kiri had been the Mizukage himself.

 

Sighing softly, Yagura lifted a hand to massage at his temple. The Third Shinobi World War hadn’t ended long ago, less than twenty years, but he could already feel the Fourth stirring. There was a reason why armistice had never truly ended; the _war_ had never truly ended.

 

Pain steadily rose within him as he truly thought about the consequences. Barely twenty years between the second and third. Now, barely ten years between the third and fourth. Was there any meaning to this bloodshed other than greed?

 

But the worst of the matter was the _five-year-old jinchuuriki_ in his charge. A five-year-old, who, by all rights, should be at home playing with rubber kunai instead of shouldering _broken collarbones_. God, Yagura hated the Sandaime. He hated knowing that there’d be one day where, instead of seeing beautiful smiles and childish hopes in those large, ink-black eyes, he’d be seeing nothing but death and destruction, hopelessness in a lifeless gaze. But as much as he wanted to shelter her, he couldn’t.

 

What he wouldn’t do to give her a few more years.

 

But there wasn’t any time. Kumo had already started militarizing. As its neighbor, Kiri would have to do the same.

 

***

_Fire. Smoke. Screams._

_Obito gazed at him from above, his body a cavity of what it once was, a large gaping wound in the place of half his body. An empty socket glared down at him, blood swirling rapidly in the place that had once held an eye. “Kaka…shi…” Cracked, dry lips lifted up into half a smile. It was horrific. His head tilted to the side, and a deranged giggle made its way out of half a throat. “It’s all your fuckin’ fault, ya know?”_

_He sat there, in the cave, looking at his once-friend, tears streaming in both hope and fear. Which was unlikely because he hadn’t been able to cry, not since—_

_Rin was standing in front of him, holding wilted yellow daffodils, a perversion of life. He could see the corpse. Her skin was unnaturally gray, her flesh rotting, her clothing fluttering about, scraps in the wind, a gaping hole where her heart had once been. Silent lips lifted in a repeated mantra, glazed eyes a veneer over the building, internal scream. “Kaka…shi…”_

_He couldn’t help it. He clutched his head and screamed, screamed at the half-Obito, at the corpse-Rin, at the—_

_Minato-sensei. Kushina-san. Naruto._

_Gai. Kurenai. Raido. Genma. Asuma. Ebisu. Team Ro._

_They were all staring at him._

_No, no. Not at him. Behind him._

_Kakashi whirled, kunai in hand, ready to—_

_Tou-san…_

 

Sometimes, Kakashi wanted to gouge his eye out, wanted to slice it into tiny pieces, wanted to see it go up in never-ending flames. But then he remembered that the eye was Obito’s.

 

The eye was Obito’s. The act was Rin’s. They lived on as long as he lived on.

 

And then Kakashi would curl into himself, no longer capable of sobbing—he hadn’t been able to since _that_ night. The red on the tatami mat _wouldn’t come out_ and he’d long give up on the stain. On some nights, like this one, he’d forego going back to his apartment and would come here, to be closer to his father. Sometimes he’d sleep next to the rusted red to be closer to him.

 

But today, Kakashi was curled into himself, eyes gaping wide, suffocating in his mask, rocking back and forth in the corner of the room, staring across at the _tatami mat, a symbol of his failure, his stupidity, his worthlessness. Why didn’t he fucking understand his tou-san, why did he—_

Why was he _so lost?_

Pakkun cried for him. So he didn’t need to.  

 

Pushing himself up from his position on the tatami mat, he froze a little, staring at the marked blood-stain he’d been sleeping next to just a few moments ago. _Tou-san._

 

Suddenly, the fresh smell of Konoha in the morning was replaced with the cloying scent of blood. Bile rose in his throat and his hands trembled, grabbing his ANBU gear before he could think twice, flashing to the door with a hurried “ittekimasu”. He needed to get out, somewhere not here, not home.

 

He froze on the front porch, hands halfway shoved into his pockets, eyes wide at the telltales of his childhood. The memories overcame him in an instant, sending him gasping to the ground, clutching at nothing dirt and gravel. _Rin and Obito hiding in the bushes. Fishing. Meniére. Dinner._

_Obito greeting him every morning before the Academy. Rin’s quiet hero worship._

_Obito’s eyes, Rin’s blood._

 

And there he crouched, trembling under the weight of the past, hands grasping at nothing but grains of sand, slipping through his fingers before he’d even captured them.

 

A loud caw interrupted his shaking. Thankful for the interruption, he tilted his head towards the sky, squinting with his one eye. A gaggle of crows were encircling his house. _Itachi._

 

ANBU had called him in yesterday, but his appointment wasn’t until noon. _What time was it now? Ah. 4 AM. Eight hours too early. What was it this time? Another assassination mission?_

 

Effectively distracted from his nightmares, Kakashi stood on shaking legs, reaching an arm out for one of the summons.

 

One of them landed on his shoulder and daintily motioned towards its leg. _A scroll. Got it._ Kakashi sighed and unwrapped the message. ‘ _Hokage tower.’_

 

 _Well, it looked like he wouldn’t be getting his morning walk._ Sharply securing his ANBU mask over his head, Kakashi leapt into a shunshin. Itachi, for all his frosty demeanor, wasn’t a cool-cut person. For a missive to have been written in such abrupt words meant something important, something that he couldn’t afford to be late to. His inner dog growled slightly, instincts unnerved. _Something must be going on._

Within moments, Kakashi landed, crouched, in front of the Hokage Tower. Next to him, ANBU Locust and Deer appeared as well, looking to have just rolled out of bed if their state of hair was any sign. The receptionist, a retired ANBU assassination specialist, hurried out and motioned for them. “Mass Hall,” she directed.

 

Deer groaned before stalking in. Kakashi found himself quietly agreeing. The Mass Hall was underground, built below the Tower to fit as a room for mass information gathering, usually used only when the Hokage needed to address issues to all of Konoha’s active as well as inactive shinobi: genin corps, genin teams, chuunin, tokujo, jounin, and ANBU. The fact that it was being opened up after seven years of dis-use didn’t imply anything relatively benign. Steeling himself, Kakashi followed behind ANBU Locust. 

By the time the three ANBU got to the Mass Hall, there were already a couple thousand shinobi gathered, almost the entire amount of shinobi troops in Konoha. He could see the genin, rubbing their eyes tiredly, glancing around with anxious trepidation. Many of them had never been to a war gathering, so they had no idea what was going on, but they were _so proud_ , were they considered important now?

 

But, even in their excitement, they could read the atmosphere, the chuunin glancing about nervously, the jounin clumped together in moody silence, the ANBU slipping into familiar shadows.

 

There were probably a hundred thousand shinobi in the room, but even a pindrop could be heard.

 

Glancing up, Kakashi shunshin’ed to a relatively unoccupied alcove, giving a single nod to ANBU Crow before settling down in the comfort of the shadows. _Thanks_ , he signed. Itachi gave a small nod in reply. His eyes seemed to hold no small amount of worry and accusation, _you weren’t at your apartment,_ they said. Kakashi wilted and gave a slight eye-smile. He’d sunk to a new low, then, depending on a thirteen year old boy for mental health checkups.

 

Half an hour passed, with some stray jounin and ANBU drifting into the Mass Hall before the Jounin and ANBU commander stepped out from the shadows. Another hour passed before, one by one, the village elders and the Sandaime stepped into the room and settled down into their provided chairs, grim looks on their faces.

 

Silence had frozen over into deathly silence and each shinobi in the room waited on baited breath for the address.

“We have received news from Kirigakure that Kumogakure no Sato has begun militarizing.”

 

Immediately, Kakashi could tell the change in the room’s atmosphere. He froze, muscles locking in on each other. _What._

 

“Kirigakure no Sato has announced to us that they plan to begin militarizing within the week, after their next batch of Academy students graduate.”

 

Kakashi felt almost as if his chest had been slammed by the Raikage’s fist; he couldn’t breathe. _This meant—this meant_ war _. Was the last one not enough? The Second and Third Shinobi Wars were barely twenty years apart and they devasted the entire elemental nations. And now, the Fourth one was starting? Barely ten years after the Third?_

 

“We have reason to believe that Kumogakure has begun seeking alliances with other hidden villages.”

 

_No shit. So it’s serious, then._

 

“After careful discussion with the Fire Daimyo, we have decided to start militarization. Martial Law will be put in place, effective immediately. A declaration of war will occur within the month.”

 

Beside him, Kakashi could hear Itachi suck in a breath.

 

“All teams have been called back from the field. Missions from S to D have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. Mission’s Desk is closed, effective immediately.

 

“The Fourth Shinobi War is on the horizon, but Konoha goes in stronger than before. We have allies on our side and the Will of Fire burns bright through our veins…”

 

Kakashi tuned the rest of the speech out; propaganda wasn’t necessarily important; it was more for the genin and chuunin who’d never experienced front-line combat. _Will of Fire, huh?_ He hadn’t felt that in years. In fact, he quite literally felt like he abided by the Will of Ash, instead.

 

Closing his one eye, Kakashi tilted his head up towards the sky, or, what would’ve been the sky but was rather a concrete ceiling. _Obito, Rin. Had they died in vain? For a peace that had never been achieved?_

***

 

Eri calmly swung her legs as the iryo-nin by her side attempted to piece together the broken fragments of her left arm. Nurse-san had given her a red lollipop with chewy chocolate on the inside. In her opinion, it didn’t taste quite as nice as it looked, but she rarely got treats like this, so it was better to be content rather than bitter.

 

Karatachi-sensei said that chichi-ue had information he wanted her to hear. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was about. Would she get to see ani-ue again? Sparring with him was rather interesting, more interesting than with an ANBU, anyways. She’d heard that ani-ue was going to be initiated into the Seven Swordsmen soon. She wondered if she’d have time to congratulate him on his promotion.

 

Or—or maybe it was more training with Isobu-chama? It was funny. Everyone said that bijuu were monsters of incredible wisdom and power, but Isobu-chama seemed rather infantile and immature. Well, according to chichi-ue, that was just Isobu-chama’s nature and it wasn’t nice to make fun of someone’s inner nature. And, chichi-ue had also said that because Isobu-chama was so youthful at heart, it would be easier for them to be friends! Which was relatively true, anyways. Other than Karatachi-sensei, Isobu-chama was her only friend. But she hoped he’d grow up, soon. It wasn’t fun talking only about candy. She wanted to talk about jutsu!

 

“Alright, Eri. Lay down please.” It seemed like Nurse-san was finished with her arm. Flexing it experimentally, she focused on running chakra up and down the bone structure, testing to see if it was just as durable as before it was broken. Satisfied, Eri nodded and lay back onto the sheets of the hospital bed. Nurse-san immediately got to work on her collarbone, conjuring a steady stream of green-blue healing chakra.

 

Eri liked the feeling of healing chakra; it always felt very warm and comforting and made her wonder what her own chakra felt like.

 

She knew what Isobu-chama’s felt like. The first time they’d met, he’d been scared and lonely so he’d lashed out at her even though she was only trying to be friends. It had _burned_. Burned more than the fire. After the fact, she’d wondered if the burn was on par with the pain of the legendary Uchiha mangekyou-flames, Amaterasu. Chichi-ue had told her to stop being so silly, that Isobu-chama was a suiton-based bijuu and that it wasn’t very logical for him to be using fire-natured ninjutsu attacks. She couldn’t help but feel as if it wasn’t necessarily a fire-natured ninjutsu attack but a massive, solid-chakra attack, but she’d bit back the remark.

 

Nurse-san had moved to her ankle by now, testing to see its damage. Noticing Eri’s interest, Nurse-san gave her an eye-smile. “It’s only a slight sprain, Houzuki-san. Your check-up will be over in a minute.” Satisfied, Eri went back to chomping on her lollipop. Karatachi-sensei had told her to come find him after her check-up was done. It was bad form to keep a superior waiting and she didn’t want to throw her lollipop away; that would be a rather wasteful usage for a treat, wouldn’t it?

 

Isobu-chama laughed himself silly in her head. _Treat, treat!_

 

Eri giggled. _Hai, Isobu-chama. A treat._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwa: rook to d1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As far as I'm concerned, Gaara is strictly asexual. He really likes cuddles, though. And his stomach makes for a good pillow. 
> 
> Also, every other hidden village thinks that the Kyuubi is lost to the world... when it's sealed in Naruto. So, yah. Don't get confused.

Eri fingered her new headband thoughtfully. It looked a little bit too new for proper use, but that could be changed with some sandpaper. Across from her, Karatachi-sensei cleared his throat, a reminder that she was musing. Glancing up, she snapped back to attention; it was bad form to keep a superior waiting.

 

Karatachi-sensei just smiled. He was nice that way. He didn’t really like to punish her. “Now that you’re a genin, you’ll be taking part in out-of-village missions. Sandaime-sama plans on having you run low-difficulty assassination missions with some ANBU teams. From now on, we’ll be working harder on chakra control in order to make you fit in stealth missions.”

 

Eri nodded slowly. It made sense that she run missions with ANBU—it was the safest option, really, but why assassination missions? Wasn’t she being trained for front-line combat?

 

Karatachi-sensei seemed to have sensed the confusion in her eyes. “The Sandaime believed it to be best to break you into the bloodier parts of shinobi lifestyle in increments. Front-line battle sees more death than assassination missions.”

 

At this, Eri understood. First-kill and mass-kill shock wasn’t uncommon, even amongst members of the Bloody Mist. And, while she highly doubted she’d fall prey to the dark side of her mind, it was still a logical move to be eased into the life of murder.

 

“Your first mission is with ANBU Team Six, setting out within four hours. ANBU Snake will brief you. Now, go and pack.”

 

“Hai, Karatachi-sensei.” She promptly rushed out of the room, body humming in excitement. _A mission!_

***

 

Karatachi-sensei couldn’t have known. He couldn’t have known.

 

She repeated that mantra in her head, over and over, until she _almost_ believed it. _He couldn’t have known. Couldn’t._

Frustrated, she kicked a fallen stone—the screams of the past hour echoing in her head—and watched as it tumbled into the open palm of a fallen civilian.

 

They were standing in the remains of an all-civilian merchant-village that stood along the border of Iwagakure, deep within Rock Country. Snake-taichou had something about payback for the tragedy of Yosuga Pass, but she somehow doubted that Yosuga Pass had even come across the Mizukage’s mind when he’d dished out the mission. She doubted he’d pulled this mission out for anything as noble as revenge. She would know, after all, she’d lived with him for the past five years. Powerful, the Sandaime was. Honorable, he was not.

 

Eri turned, surveying the damage they’d done. Corpses lay strewn about in varying states of dress. A newborn was lying on the ground, brain matter splattered on the dirt.  

 

A civilan mother had wrapped her corpse around her child—not that it’d done any good. Scorpion’s tanto, enhanced with wind chakra, had pierced through both bodies with a sickening squelch.

 

Blood soaked the streets of the small Rock village she was standing in. A few seconds before, she’d opened the tap in one of the now-empty houses, only to watch as red water came flushing out.

 

This wasn’t an assassination mission, and it most definitely wasn’t revenge for Yosuga Pass. This was pure, unadulterated murder, targeting those who had no ability to fight back. Eri felt sick to her stomach.

 

Within her, Isobu-chama quivered, three tails directed up at the sky.

 

ANBU Scorpion, by her side, had roughly torn off one of the dead civilians’ shirts and was now using it to wipe his tanto clean of blood. Glancing at her, he gave a small grin. “So, how’s it feel, eh? First blood? First kill? First mission?” His eyes glinted maniacally.

 

Eri hesitated. _Better to go with a safe answer._ “It takes some getting used to.”

  
Scorpion eyed her suspiciously. “Takes some getting used to?” Turning back to his tanto, he scoffed. “Now that’s a vague answer if I ever heard one.” He got up from his crouch, admiring his tanto in the way it shined in the moonlight.

 

“Look, kid. I’ve been a shinobi since before the Bloody Mist ever was. Let me give you a piece of advice ‘cuz you look like you need it. A hell lot of it. This place? Kiri? It’s a shithole. It’s hell. You come in, you never go out. Mob mentality, all that shit. If you don’t want to _be_ killed, _do_ the killing. Simple as that.

 

“This mission was a test for you, jinchuuriki. Your sensei told you it was an assassination mission? Yeah, it was. Assassinate all your remaining humanity, that is. Get used to killing. War’s coming.” He sheathed his tanto, sharply. “Kiri is no place for morality to stay. We’re a cesspool of human shit, kid. Better get used to it. Now, get yourself together before anyone thinks you’re treasonous.” He leapt away, possibly to go find the rest of the ANBU they’d come with. Eri watched him go, pausing for a few seconds, before darting after him.

 

_Kill, or be killed. Kill, or be killed. Kill, or be killed. Kill, or be killed._

_She wondered if ani-ue ever had these kinds of missions._

 

Deep within her mind, Isobu shuffled. _You know he’s right._

 

Eri almost paused in her footing. _Yes. I do._

 

The rest of the ANBU were gathered together, patching wounds and raiding houses. She joined them, lifting her eyes to stare into the sky. _Isobu-chama._

_Huh?_

_It’s a blood moon tonight._

***

 

Kakashi stalked down the street, slouching into each step, one eye drooping. Itachi, by his side, looked up at him, eyes set in grim stubbornness. _Ah, fuck. He knew what was coming._

“You weren’t at your apartment.”

 

“A-ah.” Kakashi’s hand went up to his hair, ruffling it slightly in consternation. His one eye crinkled into a smile. _Look healthy, look healthy._

“Where were you?”

 

_Look healthy, look healthy._

“Maa, maa. I was out getting groceries.”

 

Itachi’s eyes darted over, narrowing. “You’re lying.”

 

_Fuck this kid._

“My crows told me where you were.”

 

_Of course they did. Why wouldn’t they?_

“You were back at the Hatake compound. I thought that the last couple Yamanakas you’d gone to see had told you to either sell the house or demolish it.”

 

Kakashi forced himself not to tense. Itachi meant well. “Maa, maa. Itachi-chan. Memories aren’t so easy to demolish.”

 

He was met with a pregnant silence. Quiet eyes stared at him, daring him to make eye contact. He already knew what Itachi was going to say. _You shouldn’t live in the past, yadda yadda yadda. Confront the past to make way for the future, etc etc._

 

“Okaa-san told me to invite you for breakfast.”

 

_What?_

“There’s also some leftover onigiri from yesterday, your favorite. Sasuke misses you. You haven’t been to the Uchiha district since our last mission together.” _And that was over two months ago_ was left unspoken.

 

“Haa—” Kakashi shook his head ruefully.

 

“Naruto slept over last night.” _Hook, line, and sinker. Damn, the kid was good._

“Hai, hai. I’ll be there.” Kakashi waved his hand lazily, coiling his chakra in preparation to shunshin off before Itachi asked him to go to the compound with him right now.

 

“You can rest at the Uchiha compound.” _Dammit._

Kakashi let his shoulders drop in noticeable defeat. Next to him, Itachi stayed impassive, but he could tell the little smirk playing in the boy’s eyes. _Fine._

 

But the lighter lilt in his steps and the feeling of something being freed in his chest told him that Itachi had been right, once again. _What had he ever done to deserve all the good things that came his way?_

***

 

“That _blasted_ Mizukage!”

 

Kurotsuchi watched, a tiny smirk playing on the edge of her eyes, as Ohnoki flitted about the room in agitation.

 

“Oi, oi, grandpa. It’s just a small merchant village, bound to be torn down during the war sooner or later.”

 

The Sandaime Tsuchikage came to a stop in front of her, beady eyes glaring dark holes into his granddaughter. “And this is why an old man is still Tsuchikage. _Your_ lack of capability.”

 

Kurotsuchi raised her hands as if to appease him, grinning sarcastically. “They’re just civilians. Nothing to worry about.”

 

“There’s _everything_ to worry about, you blasted—”

 

“Hey old man, watch your back.”

 

“ _Watch your language! Gah—”_ Lightning pierced through Ohnoki’s eyes as he clutched his back, eyes tearing in agony. Kurotsuchi gave a teensy giggle, covering her mouth with a dainty hand.  

 

The Tsuchikage settled himself on top of his desk and glared as menacingly as he could at his granddaughter.

 

“How are the ships coming along?”

 

Now, Kurotsuchi was nothing but business. Her eyes narrowed in seriousness and her features sunk, grimly. “Better than expected, but it’ll still take us a couple more months before we build enough.”

 

Then, almost as if her previous seriousness was nothing but a fitful memory, she smirked again, placing her hands on her hips. “Tell me again why we couldn’t just buy a bunch of ships from Kumo? That’d be such less hassle.”

 

“You fool! You fool! _This_ is why I’m still Tsuchikage at my old age! It’s all you!”

 

Kurotsuchi hid her giggle behind her hand.

 

The Tsuchikage flitted about the room in agitation.

 

“Kiri watches Kumo like Kumo watches _us_! We buy ships from Kumo, Kiri will know within the hour!” He harrumphed and crossed his arms, glaring sideways at his granddaughter. “Besides, who knows what Kumo would do to those ships.”

 

“Hai, hai, Tsuchikage- _sama_.” Kurotsuchi playfully waved her hand, before settling into seriousness once again. “What exactly is it that you want from Kiri?”

 

Ohnoki rose from his desk to face his granddaughter, age lines set deep into his face. “Their jinchuuriki.”

 

Kurotsuchi frowned and opened her mouth as if to protest but silenced any arguments at the glare she received.

 

“Konoha has lost the Kyuubi. Suna has their hands full with an insane jinchuuriki. Kumo is our ally.”

 

“So—”

 

“So the only jinchuuriki that poses a threat is Kiri’s sanbi jinchuuriki.”

 

“But, oji-san, she’s only five.”

 

“She’s only five and she’s already a fuuinjutsu third-tier expert, she’s already mastered her Uzumaki chakra chains, and perfected her control over the sanbi. If we give that blasted Mizukage any more damn time to train her, Iwa will be _razed to the ground_!

 

“We are Iwagakure. We are _stone,_ Kurotsuchi. Stone does not allow budding flowers to grow.”

 

“I understand.”

 

“Do you? Truly?” Beady black eyes bore into hers, testing to see any hint of weakness.

 

The Tsuchikage rose, drifting towards the windows of his office. “You will ready our forces. I want Kiri razed to the ground within the next half-year.”

 

“Hai, Tsuchikage-sama.”

 

***

 

ANBU Team Six, with the exception of Houzuki Eri, were all assembled in the Mizukage’s office to report their mission status.

 

The Sandaime crossed his fingers and leaned forwards onto his desk. “How was her performance?”

 

Snake stepped forwards, then snapped into ANBU salute. “Responding to Mizukage-sama, Houzuki Eri is a successful experiment. She has the ninjutsu capability of an early jounin—she displays decent mastery of Suiton jutsu and Raiton jutsu and is capable of using them in combination attacks. Her taijutsu is weak, as is her genjutsu, but her intelligence puts her easily at jounin level. She also displays remarkable control over the sanbi and regularly converses with it without much strain on her identity.”

 

The Sandaime nodded, slowly, contemplative. “Ringo Ameyuri’s illness has become a problem. Perhaps it’s time to pass the Lightning-blade Kiba onto a worthier successor.”

 

His eyes narrowed in thought once more before turning back to the ANBU in front of him. “What would you say about her loyalty? Scorpion?”

 

“Responding to Mizukage-sama, Houzuki Eri doesn’t seem to be at risk to abandoning Kiri. She seems remarkably loyal.”

 

The Sandaime’s shoulders shook and for a moment, the ANBU averted their gaze nervously. Had they said something wrong? Would they be killed? Tortured?

 

A chuckle sounded. “Suna is overrun by an insane jinchuuriki, Konoha seems to have lost the Kyuubi, Iwa’s two jinchuuriki have turned rogue, and only Kumo has two able-bodied ones.”

 

The Mizukage tilted his head towards the ceiling, frowning in thought. “Perhaps it’s time to recall Utakata.”

 

***

 

“Kaka-shi!” Naruto leered up impressively, arms clasped behind his head.

_Ah, why does this kid have so much energy?_ Rubbing his hand nervously in his hair, Kakashi’s lone eye smiled. “Maa, maa. What is it, Naruto?”

 

“Sasuke-teme said that you’re a big-shot jounin! Train us, train us, train us, train us, train us, trai—”

 

“Usuratonkachi, nii-san and Hatake-san have a mission today, or did you forget?”

 

Naruto visibly deflated. “Awwwwwww.”

 

“Maa, maa. We don’t have a mission anymore, Sasuke-kun. Hokage’s orders.” At this, the boy perked up, eyes glazing wide.

 

“So—”

 

“So we _can_ train you guys today, if you’re up for it.” _Shit. Why’d he say that. The plan was breakfast and leave since when did it turn into breakfast then socialize?_

 

Naruto whooped, and dashed towards the door. Sasuke straightened, tomato forgotten and tamago uneaten, darting after the blonde.

 

_Aahhh… what had he gotten himself into this time?_

 

He slumped reluctantly towards the front door, hands in his pockets, heading towards the Uchiha private training grounds where Itachi was already ready, throwing shuriken at the easy targets placed before him. The fourteen year old turned towards him, a soft smile on his face. “It seems that they’ve swindled us into training them once again. “

Kakashi smiled ruefully. “Maa, about that…”

 

“Oi! Old man! You better not to back on your promise now!” Naruto struck a pose, pointing an offending finger at Kakashi. Sasuke, standing behind him, noticeably strained to hold back his own outburst before deigning with a “hn”.

 

Kakashi deflated.

 

“Sasuke, Naruto-kun. Let’s start with shuriken practice today.” Give it up for Itachi for being mentally stable enough to deal with two hyperactive children. Kakashi could never.

 

***

 

_Two months later, on the outskirts of Konoha_

Eri raced through the forest, nevermind that the Land of Fire was dryer than a Houzuki could take. Two of the six ANBU who’d gone on the mission with her were already dead, one having exploded his guts over her uniform and the other nastily beheaded. Straining chakra towards her ears and legs, she muttered a curse when the tell-tale of a shuriken exploded into action behind her.

 

Isobu-chama chanted somewhere in the back of her head. _Use it, use it, use it use it use it use it use it use ituseituseituseituse—_

Eri snarled in annoyance and immediately circulated her chakra towards her back. _Let him have at it._

Ten blue-white chains exploded out of her, eight pummeling towards her attacker, while the rest acted as extra appendages, swinging her up into the trees and boosting her speed by several times. Her ears strained before the tell-tale whump of one of her chains hitting their target sounded and immediately, she leapt back, heading straight towards her pursuer, Kiba in hand, crackling white electricity. _If she couldn’t take Utakata back to Kiri, then she’d kill him and seal the bijuu herself._

The chain that had managed to connected in its attack strung itself through Utakata’s body while the rest wrapped around him, encasing him in a yellow glow—the fuuinjutsu art of chakra chain sealing arrays. _A clone would’ve disappeared already, so this had to be the real Utakata._

 

Eri landed by the Rokubi jinchuuriki, Kiba blazing. “Nuke-nin of Kirigakure, once-Jounin Utakata, Rokubi jinchuuriki, the Sandaime Mizukage recalls you to the village.” Utakata glared, face twisted in righteous fury.

 

A ruffle of leaves behind Eri alerted her to the presence of another group within their vicinity and five more chains slid out, encasing both jinchuuriki in a protective array. She stiffened. “Show yourself!”

 

A Konoha ANBU team slid out from the shadows, arms held placatingly. Their leader, a white-haired figure with a dog mask, dropped down from his perch, slunking over. “What brings Kiri-nin to the forests of Konoha?”

 

Eri straightened at the sight of allies and sheathed Kiba within the storage seals she’d inked onto the sides of her stomach—it wouldn’t do to be violent on the outskirts of Konoha, especially since the treaty between Kiri and Konoha wasn’t as strong as the one between Kiri and Uzu. “A retrieval mission.”

 

Silently, she mentally berated herself. _Why hadn’t she noticed that Utakata had been herding her towards Konoha? If he’d chased her any further, if she hadn’t used her chakra chains, then perhaps she’d have violated a sacred treaty in a time when such an action had too many far-reaching consequences to count._

“Maa, maa. Next time please settle Kirigakure disputes away from Konoha. Your little spar put our village on Code Red high alert.” The ANBU surrounding her gave small snickers.

 

Eri resisted the urge to call off her chains and pummel the man into the ground. Four known chakra signatures sped by and she signed in relief. Team Six had finally caught up. They landed around her in a semi-circle.

 

ANBU Spider whistled. “Ne, ne, Eri- _sama_. You did good for a snot-nosed brat. Now let’s haul ass outta here. Konoha gives me the creeps.” She gave a fake shudder, then pranced away into the trees, barely even acknowledging the Konoha ANBU still surrounding them.

 

“We’ll let you go on your way, then.” The Konoha ANBU melted back into the shadows, but Eri wasn’t naïve enough to believe that they’d truly left.

Scorpion stepped up to her and gave a low whistle. “So, Utakata, huh? Hey, you a boy or a girl?”

 

The Rokubi jinchuuriki ceased his struggling only to glare daggers back.

 

Isobu-chama was glomping circles in her mind-palace. _Saiken! Saiken! Saiken! Saiken!_

_Ah. So the Rokubi was named Saiken._

Eri knelt, facing Utakata. “Utakata-san. The Five Nations are once again going to war. The Mizukage has recalled you to the village.”

 

He glared at her, eyes spitting daggers. “As if I’d ever go back to that hellhole. Kiri can go die if it wants to. It’s got nothing to do with me.”

 

Eri felt her eyes narrow. “Does it really not have anything to do with you? Utakata-san. I’m five years old. Iwa has recently updated my bingo-book status to ‘capture on sight’. You’ve also been updated, Utakata-san. Guess what? You’re also a ‘capture on sight’.

 

“Utakata-san. Iwa has Han and Roshi. They may be nuke-nin now, but both have been unerringly loyal towards Iwagakure. If you can be beaten into submission even by me, all that’s left of you in this world is just death.”

 

Utakata glared.

 

Scorpion tittered. “Goodness! Teenagers these days!” Fanning himself airily, he walked off, probably trailing after Spider.

 

Eri retracted her chains, leaving Utakata lying in the dirt, clutching his wound. “Saiken, you should heal your jinchuuriki.”

 

His flesh slowly searing into one, Utakata stood on shaky legs. “Perhaps it is time I returned to Kiri.”

 

Isobu-chama splashed about in the mind-palace. _Saiken’s back! Saiken’s back!_

Eri’s eyes twitched into a soft smile. “Hai, hai. Saiken’s back.”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I do a good job of giving each character a distinct personality?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tidings before war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of writing the story as it goes. To be honest, I don't really know what to do with my plotholes. 
> 
> The Uzumaki clan is still alive, as is the Uchiha. These two are huge plot holes cuz these two clans are so fucking overpowered that they can literally KO all the tailed beasts + juubi together. 
> 
> So I don't know if I'm going to leave Uzumaki and Uchiha alive. 
> 
> And, in all honesty, the Uchiha have always been more of a danger to Konoha than Danzo, so... idk.

The first time Kakashi saw her, his mind flashed with lightning, his heart fluttered about in his chest. Small tremors shook him, imperceptible to the naked eye from years of practice bullshitting the ANBU mental health exams. Not that it was difficult anyways. It was a pretend-you-care-but-don’t-actually-care thing.

_Calm._

“What brings Kiri-nin to the forests of Konoha?” He relaxed the breath he’d been holding inside. _Not shaking, good._

 

The child looked up, ink-black eyes piercing him almost as if they could strike directly into his soul. Kakashi froze. _Rin?_

_Fuck, Hatake! Snap out of it!_

“A retrieval mission.” A thin voice, far too young to be on field missions already.

 

He ran his eye over the disabled nuke-nin and across the complicated array of Uzumaki chain-seals, buying himself time to ease the shaking in his throat.

 

_One, two, three. Breathe. Four, five, six. Release._

 

“Maa, maa. Next time please settle Kirigakure disputes away from Konoha. Your little spar put our village on Code Red high alert.” _Fake it ‘til you make it._

He felt rather than heard Itachi’s polite snort, the other members of Team Ro turning away to hide their amusement at his little fib.

 

One eye crinkled in a false smile and he pretended to relax himself, all the while senses racing on high alert. _Four chakra signatures, coming from the right._

 

Kirigakure ANBU, if the relief in the child’s body was to be trusted. _Only four? Where were the other two?_

ANBU usually ran in teams of six. Did that mean the other two were dead? Narrowing his eyes contemplatively at the bound shinobi before him, his mind raced to piece together the various clues the Kiri-nin had given them.

 

_White hair, probably Houzuki. Chakra chains, Uzumaki. Houzuki Eri, then. Jinchuuriki of the Sanbi. Then… Utakata of the Rokubi?_

This was a Bad SituationTM.

 

He straightened, signaling Team Ro to fall back. Houzuki Eri was a lauded genius, having been able to perfectly fuse her bijuu’s chakra with her own within five years of becoming a jinchuuriki—a feat that not even Kumo’s two resident jinchuuriki could boast of. He wasn’t curious enough about her power to test it now. He could win the battle, but the amount of mass destruction such a fight would cause was not acceptable.

 

He tuned out the Kiri ANBU nin loudly declaring her boredom, slipping into the shadows along with the rest of Team Ro.

 

_Remain. Observe._ He signaled.

 

Kirigakure may be an ally, but the only piece that held Konoha and Kiri’s tenuous relationship together was Uzushio. Kiri didn’t trust Konoha enough to share intel, so this was probably all that they were going to get before the start of the war. _Maa, better make the most of it, then, considering that they were so kind to deliver it on a platter._

He listened to the conversation going on below with narrowed interest. The amount of S-class information the two jinchuuriki were spewing was enough to raise eyebrows. _There was no way Kiri ANBU, with its efficiency, wouldn’t know that Konoha nin were still on the scene. Unless, that means that this was intel they wanted to share?_ He snorted. _Give it up for Kiri to deliver such intel in such an obscure way._

He signaled, again. _Crow, Squirrel, follow. Scorpion, Deer, Locust. Report._

That should do it. Half of Team Ro would follow the six Kiri nin until they left the Land of Fire while the other half would report to the Sandaime. With Itachi’s crows, information relay would be relatively quick.

_Maa, if Kiri was going to give free intel, then he would be insane to not receive, wouldn’t he?_

***

 

_One year later_

 

Kiba flared, roaring blue-white electricity as Hiramekarei’s twin swords swept towards her. _Dodge._

 

She flashed away, barely evading Mangetsu’s attack before it sliced through the replacement wooden log she’d substituted with. Huffing out a sigh of relief, Eri allowed herself a small smile. _Ani-ue’s gotten better._

_Slam._

_Shit. She’d lost concentration._

 

Eri blinked up, blearily opening and closing her eyes, the figure of Mangetsu blurring in and out of focus. Hiramekarei’s twin swords both dug at her neck while Kiba had been flung through the air, landing a good five meters away from her. She huffed. “I surrender.”

 

The corner of Mangetsu’s lips turned up, and, sheathing his great-sword, he held out a hand towards Eri.

 

“You’ve improved, Eri.”

 

She frowned testily in reply. She’d improved, but not at the rate of her elder brother.

 

Mangetsu gave a soft laugh, as if he understood exactly what was passing through her mind. “Being able to do what you’re doing with the twin lightning blades within a year isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world, Eri. Especially for a six year old. Be proud of yourself.”

 

This time, she had to force the frown to stay on her face, struggling to hold back her burgeoning smile—Mangetsu always made her feel nice, unlike that _stupid_ Suigetsu. She grasped his offered hand, hauled herself up, then stepped away to gather Kiba before sheathing them in her seals, double orbs inked along the sides of her stomach.

 

Seeing Mangetsu in action was a reality check to Eri. For a fifteen-year-old to be able to master six swords out of seven within two years, then be so adept at using the seventh within just two months of practice (when she herself was still struggling to control Kiba after a year of sparring with ANBU) was pure genius at work.

 

Compared to Mangetsu, she had had much more opportunity. The Houzuki Clan may be one of Kiri’s most prestigious noble clans, but even a noble clan would find it difficult to offer as much in training as the Mizukage himself.

 

Eri directed her attention to the blisters on her hands, sighing internally. She’d had more resources than Mangetsu could imagine, but still, her improvement in bukijutsu was lacking in comparison to him.

 

A hand ruffled her hair, distracting her from wayward thoughts. “Eri. Stop stressing.”

 

She directed a soft smile up at her older brother. “Let’s go get dango.”

 

“Hai, hai. Dango it is. But let’s bandage your hands—.” He was interrupted by a sharp, piercing blare.

 

Eri’s head shot up, eyes locking in on the alarm placed within the Houzuki Clan’s private training field. _What?_

 

_“Code Blue alert. Code Blue alert. Repeat. Code Blue alert. Code Blue alert.”_

Doors to the compound slammed open, clan members dashing out in various states of dress. A seven-year-old Suigetsu locked eyes with Mangetsu, then shunshin’ed up to them.

 

“Nii-san. What’s going on?”

 

He looked about with worried eyes, watching as hordes of Houzuki leapt over the clan walls, taking to the roofs.

 

Mangetsu placed a hand on his head. “We should go.” 

The three siblings shared a final look of worry before dashing off in a cloud of dirt.

 

Code Blue in Kirigakure was signal for major emergencies. All shinobi, active and inactive, as well as academy students were required to immediately report to the Mizukage tower while civilians were to gather, then flee to emergency exits where ANBU would then escort them out of the village.

 

Code Blue had never been used in the history of Kirigakure, not even when the Rokubi went insane.

 

Eri raced through the streets alongside Mangetsu and Suigetsu, popping a soldier pill to replenish her depleted chakra stores, stopping only when she reached the Mizukage tower, where thousands of shinobi had already gathered. Other than the blaring emergency warnings, Kirigakure was silent, no one daring to make a single noise.

 

The Sandaime was already on the balcony, quietly addressing his ANBU guard, one of which, ANBU Hawk, was furiously scribbling out messages. Eri watched as two hawks were summoned into being before taking off into the skies in the directions of Uzu and Konoha.

 

She craned her neck to look around for Karatachi-sensei, and wondered if he knew what was going on.

 

_Was it really this serious?_

 

Beads swinging in his hair, the Sandaime turned to face the masses of shinobi and held up a hand to signal the end of the alarm.

 

Kiri was dead silent.

 

“A navy of fifty ships, possibly carrying around four hundred thousand Iwagakure shinobi led by the Tsuchikage himself as well as the jinchuuriki Roshi and Han just rounded the coast of Kumo. Within ten hours, Kiri will be faced with an attack from the ocean.” The Mizukage paused, allowing his words to sink in.

 

Oftentimes, those unacquainted with Kirigakure shinobi would imagine the Bloody Mist as somewhere where intelligence lacked and brute force prevailed. Any of those dead who had once died to a Bloody Mist shinobi’s blade would be able to refute that assumption. In a place where blood ran like water, where the scent of it coated the mist, in a home that served as nothing more than a cage for a slaughterhouse, perception and intelligence were key to survival.

 

So when the Sandaime announced a naval attack led by two jinchuuriki and a Kage, every shinobi stiffened, then lowered their heads.

 

Kirigakure would fall. There was no way around it.

 

“Kiri may fall today, but Kiri will not go down fighting.

 

“Academy students and genin. Your task is to destroy crops and fertile fields. Chuunin and jounin. Your task is to categorically seal all of Kiri’s archives.

 

“Within five hours, by noon, all of Kiri’s active shinobi forces as well as academy students will gather by the exit gates by rank. You will be led by Karatachi Yagura, my appointed successor, into a full-out retreat towards Konoha. Go!”

 

The thousands of shinobi gathered before to tower leapt into action at the imperious wave of the Mizukage’s hand. Within minutes, Kiri was burning.

 

***

 

The day in Konoha was like any other—birds happily chirped away on their perches, basking in comfortable breezes, the sun casting a warm glow that washed the world with light.

 

Aoba was sat on a tree stump, absentmindedly chewing on a senbon while finishing up the latest Icha Icha Jiraiya-sama had written. The Nara shinobi in his team were already passed out on the job and Genma wasn’t doing any better, having picked up cloud-watching as his newfound hobby—not that it really mattered. Messenger duty gave no need to be on guard. Aoba smirked, then moved his body into a lazy stretch, spitting his senbon with accurate precision towards Genma’s forehead protector.

 

“Yo.”

 

Genma stared back, half-lidded eyes glazed with lazy accusation. Noting the look on Aoba’s face, one that promised pranks, retribution, mischief, and fun, he sighed, crawling into an upwards position.

 

“What.”

 

“Eyyyyyyy, you hear?”

 

Genma groaned in response. _Gossip. Gee, thanks._

 

But, then again, Aoba was fast friends with Anko and Anko was somehow in the know-how with every little thing that went on in Konoha. Asuma and Kurenai? Well, that had been obvious, but she wasn’t even acquainted with them yet when she started spreading the gossip.

 

Inwardly, Genma cackled. Messenger duty was starting to get interesting.

“Ensui’s getting back in-field.”

 

_Shit._

Genma whistled, then repeated just that. Shit.

 

Nara Ensui was as legendary as they came, at least, in the Shinobi world. Most civilians would have no idea who Ensui was, but the man of shadow was a downright terror in all other shinobi nations around the continent. He’d made a name for himself in ANBU, something that was rarely done, and had become so good at his missions that other nations had taken notice. He was perhaps the first S-Ranked ninja on the bingo-book who was relatively unknown except to those shinobi populations who’d spent time in ANBU. Nara Ensui, Shadow of Death. The Nara Clan’s first attack-based fighter.

 

Genma whistled again. _Shit._ “So the war’s probably gonna be serious, huh? If they’re bringing Ensui back, that is.”

 

Last he knew, the man had retired to some corner of the Nara forest, spending his time tending to the deer and offering inputs to the Nara’s medicinal research branch. When ANBU retired from active duty, they retired from active duty. Even in times of war. The village needs more shinobi in its ranks? The village is calling old, veteran shinobi to fill up those ranks? Leave retired ANBU out of it.

 

If the village had been willing to spend such an amount of effort convincing Nara Ensui to re-join active service, then the war must be heading to some shit-storm.

 

Aoba nodded, eyes cast over. All good mood that had once filled the two shinobi had fled.

 

“You know, we should probably wake them up.” Aoba stood, nudging one of the passed-out Naras with his feet. “Our shift is—”

 

A sudden caw burst through the skies, and all four ANBU shed any remains of relaxation, slipping into positions of defense.

 

The hawk landed, definitely a summons. “Message from Kirigakure. Emergency. Immediate reply necessary.” It stuck a foot out, then dropped a scroll daintily on the ground. Shrinking in size, it flew towards one of the Hashirama trees, hopping a few times around a branch before nestling in a comfortable perch.

 

Narrowing beady eyes at the four shinobi, it repeated, “Emergency. Immediate reply.” Then proceeded to rustle its feathers and settled into comfortable silence.

 

Genma broke it. “Well, fuck.”


End file.
